We started Newsgroup Reviews, also known as NGR, in 2007 and have been using newsgroups since the 90’s. Managing the site has given us the opportunity to test over 100 Usenet providers over the last 12+ years. We’ve seen many companies come and go during that time but the big players are here to stay. The best Usenet services offer the most retention and the fastest, most reliable networks with servers available globally. All providers NGR recommends are the best of the best, and many of the recommended providers also have all-in-one-packages including high-speed unlimited downloads, a free newsreader with integrated Usenet search, and a free Zero-Log VPN.

Want some help selecting the best Usenet provider? If so follow these guidelines to help evaluate your top choices.

5 Tips for Comparing Usenet Providers

Price: This may seem self explanatory, but there’s no need to overpay for Usenet access. Giganews and Easynews are brands that come to mind when considering services that cost more than others. Is Usenet with extras worth $30 a month? That’s your decision to make but we prefer Newshosting or Tweaknews with unlimited Usenet with client, search, and free VPN for $8-$10 a month. The bottom line is to select a Usenet provider that meets your budget, but don’t assume that price equals quality. You will want to test any service to ensure that it meets you needs.

Speed & Reliability: Performance is a key factor that we consider when rating Usenet providers. Speed is important to just about all users so we want to make sure the services will meet your needs. There are a few steps you can take to ensure the best performance. The first is to connect to the nearest news server. The services on our list above will automatically route you to the best server location. You can also select from servers in North America and Europe. Connecting to a server that is further away can impact your speed. The other suggestion is to use a minimum number of connections to reach your desired download speed. Using more connections than necessary will actually slow you down and put undue overhead on your system. Pro tip: test the speed of your Usenet provider at different times of the day throughout the week. Also note the news server locations. Providers like Newshosting and UNS offer multiple server locations worlwide. This can make a big difference in terms of speed and redundancy.

Retention & Completion: Providers like Nnewshosting, UNS, Easynews, and Eweka currently provide access to 11.5 years of retention across all newsgroups, both text and binary, and also continue to grow storage capacity — a very involved and very expensive undertaking. No posts are ever ‘expired,’ meaning these providers offer a true historical Usenet archive with BILLIONS of posts available. Other providers may have only a single year of retention (often times not even listing the number of days storage they provide), which is a tiny, tiny fraction of what you would be able to access with premium providers. The difference in the number of articles you can access with 1 year of retention vs 11.5 years of retention is more than 155,000,000,000 posts.

Usenet client & search engine: This is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing the best Usenet provider. Are you new to newsgroups? If so then Easynews may be the best chose as they offer a web-based Usenet interface. All you need is your favorite web browser to access the service. Otherwise you can sign up to services that include their own Usenet client with search features. These options include Newshosting, Eweka, and Tweaknews. We should also mention UseNetServer as they offer a UNS Global Search feature through their website. The alternative is to use a third party client like SABnzbd, NZBGet, Newsbin, or NewsLeecher. The open-source options tie into popular NZB sites via API, while the premium newsreaders give you an optional search feature for a monthly fee. Pro tip: try Newshoting for US access and Tweaknews for Dutch access. Both offer a Usenet client with built-in search engine to find content, preview, and download without the need for additional software.

Usenet & online privacy: This is an area that has grown in importance over the years. When we started out the main question was whether or not Usenet providers logged your usage. We can say that none of the services listed above log your Usenet downloads. The next question is what information is necessary to sign up for Usenet access? Most providers accept credit cards and Paypal. Bitcoin hasn’t really spread through the Usenet industry as it has in the VPN space. There is nothing illegal about any of the Usenet services listed above. The US providers are all large companies that comply with DMCA rules and therefore fall under safe harbor protection. I would not be nervous in the least signing up for any of the services. Pro tip: While it isn’t necessary, you can connect to Usenet servers. That’s all you need to do to encrypt your Usenet connections. We highly recommend using a VPN for other online activities.

Our team is here to help you find the best Usenet. Send us a tweet if you have any questions.